Title: New product creation process of KIBS firms: a case study

Authors: Pekka Salmi, Marko Torkkeli, Ville Ojanen, Olli-Pekka Hilmola

Addresses: Kouvola Research Unit, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. ' Kouvola Research Unit, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. ' Kouvola Research Unit, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. ' Kouvola Research Unit, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland

Abstract: The trade-off between standardisation and customisation is one of the crucial issues in new service development. In this paper, we first review some earlier theoretical works on the formalisation of the new service development process and its impact on firm success. Thereafter, we examine existing theoretical process models for service productisation and discuss their similarities and differences regarding proposed generic design processes. A case study of productisation process in a Finnish KIBS firm operating in internet communications and marketing business highlights the usability of developed theoretical framework in a real-life context; the small-sized company has been able to capture double digit growth path in recent years.

Keywords: standardisation; new service development; NSD; knowledge-intensive business services; KIBS; customisation; Finland; internet communications; marketing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSS.2008.016082

International Journal of Services and Standards, 2008 Vol.4 No.1, pp.16 - 32

Published online: 05 Dec 2007 *

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